Leyton Taylor, age 13, hung himself in his bedroom in his Wymondham, England, home on April 6, 2025. He died in the hospital five days later.

Taylor’s family had just moved to the town from a nearby village, and he started attending Wymondham High Academy in the middle of the school year. Though he left behind his old friends in the move, he seemed to make friends at his new school quickly at first. But in the months and weeks before his death, his classmates subjected him to “relentless” bullying after he revealed that he had a boyfriend, his mother said.

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“None of the boys in that school accepted him,” his mother said during a court inquest into his death, Attitude reported. “They told him they would never accept him for the way he spoke. He was a sassy speaker, more feminine – not the ‘hard boy’ type. This wasn’t going on for just a little while.”

His school’s headmaster, Chris Smith, said that teachers and staff were unaware of the bullying. “He had some really close friends and formed quick bonds, he attended well. He always came across as happy and confident speaking to adults,” he said.

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However, after Taylor’s death, Smith said that school staff members learned “that there had been remarks made.” Taylor also apparently spoke to a school counselor about “putting on a fake mask of smiling.”

During the inquest, Taylor’s mother said that as the family’s second-oldest child, he regularly helped care for his disabled half-brother, who has Dravet syndrome, a severe lifelong form of epilepsy. Leyton also regularly assisted with childcare, cleaning, and shopping for the family.

But on the day of his death, his stepfather, Kyle Townson, slapped him on the back of his head after his half-brother hurt himself on a trampoline. One of his parents also took his TV away from him for using one of his siblings’ bikes to go shopping.

“Both [his mother] and I asked him to look after [his disabled brother] quite a lot. There would be arguments because some of the other kids would not help out as much,” Townson said in a statement at the inquest. “[His mother] would ask Leyton because the other kids argue back.”

He added, “I also did not do enough. I should have done more… I will never forgive myself for what happened. I know I could have done more to help [his mother] and this would have helped Leyton.”

Coroner Yvonne Blake’s narrative conclusion of Taylor’s death said there was “no evidence of his intent” to kill himself, but she told the court that the teen seemed stressed by the demands of caring for his disabled sibling without much help from Townson.

“Suffice to say, anyone would be fed up – not just a 13-year-old boy or girl. He felt he was being asked to do more than anyone else, which seems like it’s probably true,” Blake said, according to the women’s website Tyla. “He had never run away or had a history of self-harm. He could be lippy, but there did not seem to be that weekend anything out of the ordinary, apart from being told off three times in one day.”

“He’s only 13. He’s a young lad. He’s probably up and down, upset, did not much like his school, did not like where he lived, had various things confiscated off him,” Blake continued. “It’s [all] probably normal things happening to a teenager, but they’re not emotionally mature.”

Editor’s note: This article mentions suicide. If you need to talk to someone now, call the Trans Lifeline at 1-877-565-8860. It’s staffed by trans people, for trans people. The Trevor Project provides a safe, judgement-free place to talk for LGBTQ youth at 1-866-488-7386. You can also call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

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